By Jeff Huett
CBF
A pastor active in CBF life with more than 20 years serving partner congregations in a variety of ministry settings has been named as the Fellowship’s Congregational Stewardship Officer. Rickey Letson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Laurens, S.C., will join the CBF staff in May.
Letson joins the CBF staff to serve as a resource to congregations to help strengthen their financial health and to develop and cultivate partnerships as congregations seek to live out their passion for mission and ministry alongside the Fellowship. He will also work with CBF state and regional organizations, CBF staff and governance bodies to further develop and implement CBF’s annual giving program for churches.
Letson said he looks forward to working alongside congregations in this new role.
“For over 20 years, I have served local congregations of all shapes and sizes connected to CBF,” Letson said. “The local church is at the very heart of what it means to be Baptist. It gives me great joy to join CBF in carrying on the critical work of helping congregations excel particularly as it relates to stewardship and financial well-being. I believe if our partner churches are able to live into their full potential, that means CBF will also be at its best. Together, we can do great things.”
Shauw Chin Capps, CBF’s Chief Development Officer and President of the CBF Foundation, said she is excited about Letson joining the development team.
“Local congregations are the heartbeat of our Fellowship,” Capps said. “CBF would not be able to carry out its mission and ministries without the partnership and generosity of our congregations. As the Congregational Stewardship Officer, Rickey, a pastor himself, brings a wealth of experience, empathy and knowledge that can increase CBF’s capacity to support congregations, cultivate relationships and engage churches with CBF in meaningful ways.”
Capps continued, “This is the first time in the history of CBF where we will have a full-time staff within our fund development department dedicated to supporting local congregations. We heard from the CBF community during our Toward Bold Faithfulness process that addressing financial strain is one of most urgent needs of churches. This position was created in response to that need. I’m very excited to work with Rickey within our fund development team to ensure that the generosity of congregations is elevated and supported.”
Rickey Letson | CBF Congregational Stewardship Officer
Rickey earned a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C. He is also a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Rickey and his wife, Ann Marie, have two children, Callie, a college student at Auburn University and Caleb, an eighth grader.
He has served in leadership across the Fellowship as a peer learning group convenor, member of the CBF South Carolina Personnel Committee and as a member of the CBF Missions Council.